Every one sees what you appear to be, few really know what you are, and those few dare not oppose themselves to the opinion of the many, who have the majesty of the state to defend them.
Niccolo MachiavelliRead
Occasionally words must serve to veil the facts. But let this happen in such a way that no one become aware of it; or, if it should be noticed, excuses must be at hand to be produced immediately.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that sometimes, words are used to obscure the truth, and one must be prepared with justifications if this is discovered.
Niccolo Machiavelli emphasizes the strategic use of language in politics and communication. He acknowledges the necessity of veiling the truth under certain circumstances, highlighting the importance of having plausible excuses ready in case the deception is uncovered. This reflects Machiavelli's pragmatic approach to power and human behavior, suggesting that manipulation may be a required tactic in the pursuit of one's goals.
Themes
ManipulationPoliticsDeceptionPowerTruth
In practice
Example use cases
In a political debate to highlight the complexity of honesty in politicians.
More from Niccolo Machiavelli
All quotes →For that reason, let a prince have the credit of conquering and holding his state, the means will always be considered honest, and he will be praised by everybody because the vulgar are always taken by what a thing seems to be and by what comes of it; and in the world there are only the vulgar, for the few find a place there only when the many have no ground to rest on.
Niccolo MachiavelliRead
Many have imagined republics and principalities which have never been seen or known to exist in reality; for how we live is so far removed from how we ought to live, that he who abandons what is done for what ought to be done, will rather bring about his own ruin than his preservation.
Niccolo MachiavelliRead
Whoever conquers a free town and does not demolish it commits a great error and may expect to be ruined himself.
Niccolo MachiavelliRead
And here one must not that hatred is acquired just as much by means of good actions as by bad ones; and so, as I said above, if a prince wishes to maintain the state, he is often obliged not to be good; because whenever that group which you believe you need to support you is corrupted, whether it be the common people, the soldiers, or the nobles, it is to your advantage to follow their inclinations in order to satisfy them; and then good actions are your enemy.
Niccolo MachiavelliRead
The chief foundations of all states, new as well as old or composite, are good laws and good arms.
Niccolo MachiavelliRead
Similar quotes
And fantasy it was, for we were not strong, only aggressive; we were not free, merely licensed; we were not compassionate, we were polite; not good, but well behaved. We courted death in order to call ourselves brave, and hid like thieves from life. We substituted good grammar for intellect; we switched habits to simulate maturity; we rearranged lies and called it truth, seeing in the new pattern of an old idea the Revelation and the Word.
Toni MorrisonRead
What good would politics be, if it didn’t give everyone the opportunity to make moral compromises.
Thomas MannRead
When the virus of restlessness begins to take possession of a wayward man, and the road away from Here seems broad and straight and sweet, the victim must first find himself a good and sufficient reason for going.
John SteinbeckRead
One must be a sea, to receive a polluted stream without becoming impure.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
The whole world is a theatre for the display of the divine goodness, wisdom, justice, and power, but the Church is the orchestra, as it were—the most conspicuous part of it; and the nearer the approaches are that God makes to us, the more intimate and condescending the communication of his benefits, the more attentively are we called to consider them.
John CalvinRead
If, in the opinion of the people, the distribution or modification of the constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way which the Constitution designates. But let there be no change by usurpation; for though this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed.
George WashingtonRead